Dichondra. | CONVOLVULACES. 479 
Sepals obovate, silky. Corolla much longer than the sepals, some- 
times twice as long. Ripe capsules about equalling the calyx.— 
D. repens var. brevifolia, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. app. Xxxvii. 
NortH anp SoutH IsLANDS, StEwarT IsutAND: Not uncommon through- 
out, ascending to 3000 ft. November—January. 
I retain this as a species with considerable hesitation, but it appears to 
constantly differ from reduced states of D. repens, which it otherwise much 
resembles, in the larger flowers with the corolla always much longer than the 
calyx. 
5. CUSCUTA, Linn. 
Leafless usually annual herbs, germinating in the soil but not 
rooting in it, producing filiform branched stems which twine round 
herbs or shrubs and become parasitic by means of suckers which 
penetrate the bark, the lower portion of the stem then dying away. 
Flowers small, usually whitish, in dense or open cymose fascicles, 
sessile or shortly pedicelled. Sepals 5 or 4, distinct or connate at 
the base. Corolla campanulate or urceolate or ovoid; lobes 5-4, 
short, imbricate in the bud. Stamens 5-4, inserted on the throat of 
the corolla, above a ring of many scale-like lacerate appendages. 
Ovary globose, 2-celled, 4-ovuled ; styles 1 or 2, persistent; stigmas 
capitate or filiform. Capsule 1—4-seeded, membranous, dry or 
succulent, circumscissile or bursting irregularly. Seeds glabrous, 
albuminous; embryo long and slender, spirally coiled; cotyledons 
wanting or obscure. 
A very remarkable genus, comprising about 90 species, spread through most 
‘tropical and temperate countries. Some of them, such as the clover dodder, 
C. epithymum var. trifolu, are dangerous pests to cultivated crops. The single 
New Zealand species is very imperfectly known, and may not be truly indi- 
genous. 
1. C. densiflora, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 186.—Stems slender, 
densely matted and twisting together, as thick as stout thread. 
Flowers crowded in short densely congested 6-10-flowered racemes 
4+ in. long. Calyx shortly 5-lobed; lobes oblong, obtuse. Corolla 
4in. long, subcampanulate, marked with transparent oil-glands ; 
lobes 5, short, rounded, recurved. Scales broadly oblong, obtuse, 
fimbriated, united at their bases by a thin membrane. Filaments 
longer than the anthers. Styles 2, rather long; stigmas capitate. 
—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 199. 
SoutH Is~tanpd: Marlborough—Port Underwood, Lyall. 
I have seen no specimens of this, and the above diagnosis has been drawn 
up from those given by Hooker in the Flora and the Handbook. According 
to Hooker, Dr. Engelmann, who examined the type at Kew, reported that it 
hardly differs from the South American C. racemosa, Martius, a species*which 
was introduced into Europe many years ago, and caused much damage to crops 
of lucerne. It subsequently appeared in fields of lucerne in California. Mr. 
Kirk (Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. 182) records the occurrence of the same plant (under 
the synonym of C. hassiaca, Pfeiff.) in lucerne-fields in Canterbury, but there 
‘are no specimens in his herbarium. 
